Hill is 1-8 against Harker since December of 2014 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Thursday. The Hill Falcons will be home for the holidays to greet the Harker Eagles at 7:00 p.m. Hill knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with flashy point totals in its past nine games -- so hopefully Harker likes a good challenge.
Hill has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 22 points or more this season. Everything went their way against San Jose on Friday as Hill made off with a 74-52 victory. Given Hill's advantage in MaxPreps' California basketball rankings (they are ranked 432nd, while San Jose is ranked 1102nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Meanwhile, Harker's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Thursday after their fourth straight loss. They fell just short of Santa Clara by a score of 54-51.
Despite their loss, Harker saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Rahul Yalla, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds and four steals, was perhaps the best of all. Yalla also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Kevin Zhang, who scored 12 points along with eight rebounds.
Even though they lost, Harker were smashing the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive rebounds. That's the most offensive rebounds they've managed all season.
Hill pushed their record up to 8-2 with that win, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Harker, their loss dropped their record down to 4-6.
Hill strolled past Harker when the teams last played back in November by a score of 79-64. Will Hill repeat their success, or does Harker have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
